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International Trade Union Confederation. Gender (in)equality in the labour market: an overview of global trends and developments. Brussels: ITUC , 2009

Introduction

International Women’s Day (IWD), celebrated annually on March 8, reflects on women’s political, economic and social accomplishments. It must be said that women have indeed made very significant process in all of these areas since the first IWD in 1911.

Around the world, more women than ever now have access to higher education, greater equality in legislative rights and more rewarding opportunities in the labour market. Also, a greater proportion of women than ever before hold high positions in politics, trade unions, business and academia. This does not mean, however, that true gender equality has been achieved. Women are still oppressed in many parts of the world, and are often not enjoying equal pay for work of equal value, or equal rights.

Furthermore, women’s access to education, health care and paid work has still not reached the same level that men enjoy. This has consequences for their career opportunities because, even though the number of women in high-level positions has increased, there is still a long way to go before true equality is obtained. In 2008, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) concentrated on the existing inequalities in remuneration between men and women, and published a report on the global gender pay gap.

This year, the scope has been extended to not only include equal pay, but also the effects of the current global economic downturn on women’s pay and employment. Furthermore, a special focus chapter has been included on the impact of violence against women on society.

The independent research organisation Incomes Data Services has carried out this project on behalf of the ITUC.

The first chapter of the report looks at the gender pay gap in 20 countries, based on data from the WageIndicator database in 2007 and the first three quarters of 2008. This database has collected 300,000 individual surveys using a self-reporting internet-based questionnaire. Apart from pay data, the chapter also discusses male and female attitudes towards their wages and work-life balance.

The next chapter looks at the effects of the current recession on women’s pay and employment, discussing evidence from previous economic crises and how the ‘lessons learned’ from the past can be of use to counter the problems faced presently. Specific characteristics of the current slowdown are also presented, together with policy initiatives that attempt to combat the economic downturn while keeping the objective of gender equality in mind.

The last chapter of part one of this report argues the case for international harmonisation of the gender pay gap definition, data collection, analysis and methodology. It draws on recent research on international labour statistics, conducted by the United Kingdom Office for National Statistics as requested by the United Nations Statistical Division. Part two of the report analyses the topic of violence against women (VAW). It examines the difficulties around the definition of what constitutes VAW, from a legal (human rights) as well as a social and cultural perspective. It then assesses the evidence that exists on the economic cost of VAW to society, and the implications VAW has on women’s access to paid work.

The analysis is based on a literature review.It has to be mentioned that the existing research on the subjects included in this report is extensive. This report gives a snapshot overview of the core facts and figures, concentrating on a limited number of sources.

 

Complete document: http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/GAP-09_EN.pdf